


Day Three

by meterokinesis



Series: Whumptober 2020 (multifandom) [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: I love Matt and therefore he must suffer, Matt in his cell, Pre-S1, Some religion but not a ton, The Shadam is blink and you miss it, Unbeta'd, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:01:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26804032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meterokinesis/pseuds/meterokinesis
Summary: Whumptober 2020Jail cell| Stabbed | Harsh climate
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Matt Holt & Pidge | Katie Holt, Matt Holt & Shiro
Series: Whumptober 2020 (multifandom) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950619
Kudos: 5





	Day Three

**Author's Note:**

> I'm actually posting this before 11:30 this time! Huzzah!!
> 
> I'd like to formally apologize for being a Voltron fan in the year of our lord 2020, but it gave me this bundle of pain. So that's something at least.

Matt’s half-asleep fingers drifted over the stone walls, his barely conscious mind remembering the slashes he had carved the day before. And the day before that. And the day before that. Seemingly endless days locked in this cell, alone.

Dragging himself fully out of the depths of sleep, Matt blinked open weary eyes and surveyed his surroundings for the thousandth time. Four stone walls, one with a metal door that opened every now and then for food, which he had taken to calling “space mush.” Space mush tasted terrible, by the way.

He drew his legs in toward him, trying not to aggravate the injury Shiro had given him before they entered the gladiator pit. The injury that landed him here. He’d been in what the Galra had generously called “the med bay,” though it resembled a torture chamber more than a hospital room. Then, he’d been shipped here to rot in a cell alone.

The cold air nipped at his skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake. The clothes they’d given him were little more than dirty rags now, but they were better than nothing. One of the other patients in the med bay assured him that they’d get blankets when the cold season came, but he had no way of knowing how far away it was. For all he knew, the Galra had taken over the universe by now.

Matt wasn’t stupid by any means. He had taken all the Garrison courses, had studied psychology to prepare for the loneliness that a space voyage would cause. He knew that this much time alone wasn’t good for people. He knew that inconsistent meal times were used to confuse him and leave him incapable of keeping track of time. He knew that he’d eventually lose it, if not today or tomorrow then in a few weeks. That is, if the Galra didn’t suddenly decide that he was healed and throw him back into the pits to earn his life.

Which brought him to Shiro. Shiro, who’d been his best friend since the first day of flight training, who’d snuck out onto the roof with him and played a game of tipsy Never Have I Ever the night they finished their last round of finals. Shiro, who had never made him feel like a third wheel when Adam was around, and who treated Katie as if she was smart instead of a know-it-all little kid. Shiro was a hero--it even rhymed. And he’d put it all on the line to save Matt.

His leg ached. The injury always seemed to act up in the cold. The Galran didn’t speak English, but he got the gist. Something would be wrong with it for the rest of his life, he’d never walk the same again.

Clearing his throat, he looked at the ceiling.

“Hey, um, I don’t know if anyone’s listening. Actually, I’m pretty sure no one is. But if you are… well, I have a favor to ask.” Matt stumbled over the words. He had never been religious. His mom was Catholic, but the rest of the family were atheists or agnostic. It was hard to study space and believe in a higher power, but it was harder still to look at it and think there wasn’t.

“Anyway, that favor. Can… Can you keep Shiro safe? And my dad? And Katie? I-I can’t help them anymore, not from here. It’s a lot to ask, I know. You can do whatever you want with my life: torture me, kill me, make me wish I was never born. But save them.” He drew in a shuddering breath, trying in vain to keep the tears from escaping his eyes.

“Please.”

A shudder ran through his body, and suddenly his face was wet. Whole-body sobs followed, and he covered his mouth to muffle the noises. He couldn’t show weakness here, in the pit of darkness. Matt Holt didn’t believe in God, but he did believe in Hell--and this was it.

When the tears subsided, his gaze fell on the marks etched deep in the stone wall. 23 little tally sets. 115 days alone. A lifetime left to go.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments make my day!
> 
> Fun fact about me (and this challenge): I use a d20 to pick the fandom I write for! Do any of y'all play D&D?


End file.
